AP Human Geography Extra Credit Assignment

Human Geography in Music: An Analysis of “Allentown” by Billy Joel Adapted from an assignment developed by Ms. Suzanne Trice

Due Date: Tuesday, May 3

Grade: This is extra credit (5 points added to Unit 6 MCQ Test Score)

Format: Written assignment, MUST be typed (follow good writing procedures)

Materials Needed: song “Allentown” by Billy Joel (iTunes), textbook (section on changes in the steel industry in the US), US map with cities and your brain thinking outside the box.

Directions: 1. Read the section in Rubenstein on the steel industry changes in the US and where steel production has been, is and is moving to. 2. Find a map on the internet and print it off. Highlight areas that Rubenstein talks about as steel producing areas in the US. Locate and mark Allentown. (Answer in paper - does this area correspond to area Rubenstein discusses – where and how?) 3. You need to find/download “Allentown” by Billy Joel – you may need to listen to it several times and write down some of the words. 4. Write an analytical essay on what has happened in Allentown regarding industry from past to present. Note changes in reference to when Billy Joel wrote/produced/released the song versus today, 2016. Make sure you explain what has happened to industry - where it was, where do you think it moved to (locally, regionally, nationally) and where is it now (internationally). The bulk of your paper should be how have these changes affected humans socially and economically. Note some of the changes that may have been seen (think about some of the topics we have discussed - population, migration patterns, educational levels/literacy rates, locational factors of industry, types of jobs – primary, secondary, tertiary). What have been some of the landscape changes because of the industrial shift? Think of some patterns, spatial distribution… 5. Be sure to include specific line by line examples of the affect of industrial shifts from the song. Example: Make the statement… In the song, when it says______this refers to ______. Use actual quotes from the song!

Believe it or not…this song can pull together almost all of our topics in Human Geography.